Seelos Therapeutics Inc.

Seelos Therapeutics Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies for central nervous system disorders and rare diseases.

The company's SLS-002 clinical program is an intranasal racemic ketamine with two investigational new drug applications for the treatment of Acute Suicidal Ideation and Behavior in Major Depressive Disorder and in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

SLS-002 was originally derived from a Javelin Pharmaceuticals, Inc./Hospira, Inc. program with 16 clinical studies involving approximately 500 subjects. SLS-002 addresses an unmet need for a therapy to treat suicidality in the U.S. Traditionally, anti-depressants have been used in this setting but many of the existing treatments are known to contribute to an increased risk of suicidal thoughts in some circumstances, and if they are effective, it often takes weeks for the full therapeutic effect to be manifested.

The clinical development program for SLS-002 included two parallel healthy volunteer studies (Phase I), followed by registration studies after meeting with the FDA. Based on information gathered from the databases of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, there were more than 1,000,000 visits to emergency rooms for suicide attempts in 2019 in the U.S. alone. Experimental studies suggest ketamine has the potential to be a rapid, effective treatment for refractory depression and suicidality.